United States Department of the Interior FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Southern Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office 4701 North Torrey Pines Drive Las Vegas, Nevada 89130 IN REPLY REFER TO: File Nos. 08ENVS00-2019-F-0125 and 08ENVS00-2019-I-0126 November 7, 2019 Memorandum To: Assistant Field Manager Division of Renewable Resources, Southern Nevada District Office, Bureau of Land Management, Las Vegas, Nevada From: Field Supervisor Southern Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office, Las Vegas, Nevada Subject: Formal and Informal Consultation under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act for the Gemini Solar Project, Clark County, Nevada This transmits the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) biological opinion in response to your memorandum received June 17, 2019, requesting formal consultation for the Gemini Solar Project in Clark County, Nevada. This biological opinion addresses potential effects to the federally threatened Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) in accordance with section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and 50 CFR § 402 of our interagency regulations governing section 7 of the Act. The BLM also requests concurrence from the Service through informal consultation that the proposed project may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect the endangered Yuma clapper rail (Rallus obsoletus yumanensis), endangered southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus), or threatened yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus). This biological opinion and concurrence are based on information provided in your memorandum; the biological assessment; correspondence between the Service and BLM; interagency section 7 consultation regulations in 50 CFR Part 402; scientific publications, articles, and reports; and our files. A complete project file of this consultation is available in the Service’s Southern Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office in Las Vegas. Biological Opinion for The Gemini Solar Project File Nos. 08ENVS00-2019-F-0125 and 08ENVS00-2019-I-0126 Issued to: Bureau of Land Management Las Vegas Field Office 4701 North Torrey Pine Drive Las Vegas, Nevada by: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southern Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office 4701 North Torrey Pine Drive Las Vegas, Nevada November 7, 2019 08ENVS00-2019-F-0125 and 08ENVS00-2019-I-0126 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents .............................................................................................................................2 Informal Consultation (File No. 08ENVS00-2019-I-0126).............................................................4 Biological Opinion (File No. 08ENVS00-2019-F-0125) ................................................................5 Consultation History ................................................................................................................... 5 Description of the Proposed Action ............................................................................................ 6 Definition of the Action Area ................................................................................................. 6 Proposed Action .................................................................................................................... 10 Project Components .............................................................................................................. 11 Construction .......................................................................................................................... 28 Desert Tortoise Translocation ............................................................................................ 41 Operation and Maintenance .................................................................................................. 44 Decommissioning ................................................................................................................. 48 Management Plans ................................................................................................................ 49 Proposed Minimization Measures......................................................................................... 50 Analytical Framework for the Service’s Determinations .......................................................... 63 Jeopardy Determination ........................................................................................................ 63 Status of the Species Rangewide ............................................................................................... 64 Desert Tortoise ...................................................................................................................... 64 Environmental Baseline ............................................................................................................ 82 Action Area ........................................................................................................................... 82 Status of Desert Tortoise in the Action Area ........................................................................ 85 Factors Affecting the Desert Tortoise in the Action Area (and Connectivity Areas) ........... 98 Effects of the Proposed Action................................................................................................ 109 Desert Tortoise Direct Effects ............................................................................................ 109 Desert Tortoise Indirect Effects .......................................................................................... 124 Effects of Compensation and Land Conservation (Recipient Areas) ................................. 133 Desert Tortoise Conclusions ............................................................................................... 133 Cumulative Effects .................................................................................................................. 136 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 137 Jeopardy Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 137 Incidental Take Statement............................................................................................................138 08ENVS00-2019-F-0125 and 08ENVS00-2019-I-0126 3 Amount or Extent of Take Anticipated ................................................................................... 139 Effect of Take .......................................................................................................................... 144 Reasonable and Prudent Measures with Terms and Conditions ..................................................144 Reporting Requirements .......................................................................................................... 145 Disposition or Care for Dead or Injured Desert Tortoises ...................................................... 145 Conservation Recommendations ............................................................................................. 146 Reinitiation Notice .......................................................................................................................146 Literature Cited ............................................................................................................................148 08ENVS00-2019-F-0125 and 08ENVS00-2019-I-0126 4 INFORMAL CONSULTATION (FILE NO. 08ENVS00-2019-I-0126) The proposed project may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect the endangered Yuma clapper rail (Rallus obsoletus yumanensis), endangered southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus), or threatened yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus). Direct effects to the listed birds include injury or mortality to individual birds from contact with project vehicles, solar panels, fencing, buildings, towers, and transmission lines. Birds may also be affected by lighting and noise. Suitable habitat for Yuma clapper rail, southwestern willow flycatcher, and yellow-billed cuckoo does not occur within or near the action area for the proposed project. However, there are documented records of all three species in suitable habitat within 15 to 20 miles of the project. These listed birds occur in areas such as Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Overton Wildlife Management Area, Las Vegas Wash, Warm Springs Natural Area, and Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge. We do not have information and cannot predict the paths dispersing and migrating individuals may take, and there is no evidence to indicate that dispersal of these species would occur within the action area. Two mortalities of Yuma clapper rails and one yellow-billed cuckoo at solar facilities in California have been documented, although the circumstances and causes of death have not been confirmed. The low number of known recorded mortalities, the lack of habitat within the action area, and the long distance from any known occurrence suggests low potential for direct mortality to listed birds related to the Project. Based on the best available science, the potential direct and indirect effects posed by the Project to the three listed bird species are expected to be negligible. The applicants will prepare a Bird and Bat Conservation Strategy to include a robust analysis of effects with measures to avoid or minimize effects to birds and systematic monitoring and adaptive management components approved by BLM and the Service. In consideration of the above,